OGDEN — The decision last week to go forward with a townhome project that calls for giving a city-owned 2.7-acre parcel to a developer generated mixed sentiments, though the Ogden City Council narrowly approved the deal.

Similarly, that sort of deal — giving city-owned land to developers to spur development, even with demand for housing seemingly strong — has prompted a range of sentiments among the city’s mayoral hopefuls. Ben Nadolski, a mayoral candidate and current City Council member, voted in the minority against the proposal — which passed 4-3 — questioning whether the city was getting as good a deal as it could.

“I think in this case, it’s not the project that I dislike, it’s just that I’m not convinced we got the best value for Ogden,” he said at the April 4 meeting.

Angel Castillo, also running for mayor, offered up strong sentiments in a video post to Facebook soon after last week’s gathering.

“I am furious and heartbroken and you should be too,” she said in the post. The City Council “literally just voted to give away a property worth $1.9 million without a proper (request for qualifications). Only two people applied and a developer was willing to pay $1.9 million.”

The proposal that got the green light last week calls for Henry Walker Homes to spearhead development of 26 market-rate townhomes in the space at an estimated cost of $9.69 million. It’ll get the land from the city at no cost and the city will also provide $870,000 to build a street through the property, connecting 23rd and 24th streets.

Reached later, Castillo emphasized the importance of fully fleshing out potential private-sector interest in city property meant for development before finalizing deals. A city official had put the value of the parcel at 550 24th St., just east of St. Joseph Catholic Church, at $800,000 to $1 million. But Castillo said Knowlton Development, which expressed interest to the city in developing the land in addition to Henry Walker Homes, had been willing to pay $1.9 million for it.

She’s acquainted with Bill Knowlton, head of the development company, from her days serving on the Ogden Planning Commission.

“We have been giving away/severely undervaluing city-owned property without a fast, fair and transparent process,” she said in a message to the Standard-Examiner. “Giving away property developers are willing to pay for robs taxpayers of revenue we could use to purchase parks, organized playing fields or grants/loans for our small businesses.”

Taylor Knuth, also running for mayor, said there is a time and place for the city to act as developer and to provide financial incentives to spur growth.

The turn of events related to the 24th Street property, more generally, underscores his concerns that the developer selection process in Ogden is not “fair and equitable.” When the city is seeking out proposals for development of city-owned land, he said, it needs to be “more inclusive of a broad swath of the community” — that is, reach more would-be developers, Knuth said.

Nadolski and others have said some area developers feel left out of the process when the city seeks development proposals from the private sector. Indeed, the City Council on Tuesday was to consider a measure establishing a formal developer selection process in a bid to better spread word to developers when the city seeks out development proposals.

Chris Barragan, the fourth and final candidate who has so far formally announced he’s running for mayor, said if a project and would-be developer are properly vetted and the benefit of providing financial or land incentives is clear, “then sure, that’s something that should be supported,” he said.

That said, he noted that such deals can raise questions among the public.

“It’s a tough thing, I think, for a lot of people to hear,” he said. “I think it’s an optics thing and that’s really bad.”

Ogden officials have defended the process followed in selection of Henry Walker Homes. The city issued a public request for qualifications from companies interested in developing the 550 24th St. property, ultimately receiving just the Henry Walker Homes and Knowlton Development proposals. Providing incentives, officials have said, will help assure a higher level of quality in the finished townhomes, helping bolster the neighborhood in the central Ogden area.

Ashley Wolthius, an Ogden Realtor who reached out to the Ogden City Council on the matter, though, delved into the process the city followed, finding flaws. She reported her thoughts to City Council members in a long email, supplied to the Standard-Examiner by Castillo, who also received it.

Wolthius reviewed the list of contacts who received Ogden’s request for qualifications, determining that many key Northern Utah developers weren’t on it, she told the Standard-Examiner. She reached out to some of them to get their thoughts on the project and several said they would have been potentially interested in submitting a proposal. Told the city was to provide the land to the developer plus funds to build a road, they were surprised, she claimed.

“Basically they thought this was too good to be true,” Wolthius said. “Every single developer I spoke to said they would be interested in that project.”

Editor’s note: The photo accompanying this story has been updated.

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